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Son of Frankenstein

Synopsis

The black shadows of the past bred this half-man . . . half-demon ! . . . creating a new and terrible juggernaut of destruction !

Wolf Frankenstein, son of Henry Frankenstein, returns with his wife, to his fathers estate to claim his inheritance. When he arrives with his family he recieves a hostile reception from locals. While exploring his fathers laboratory he comes across crooked blacksmith - Ygor, who asks him to revive his father's creation - the MONSTER who is lying in a coma. Wolf tries to revive the monster and believes he fails but then some of the locals are found murdered soon after who just happened to be part of the jury that sent Ygor to the gallows. The villagers immediately connect the killings to Frankenstein and send the inspector to investigate. He discovers the monster is alive and is being used as tool by Ygor. Wolf then in fit of madness shoots Ygor. The then enraged monster losing his only friend kidnaps Wolf's son. In the end Wolf tracks the monster to the lab where he swings down on a chain knocking the monster into a sulpher pit and thus his demise.

So, the final pieces of Young Frankenstein have now come together. We have the policeman with the wooden arm -- I was hoping he would cheat when they played darts, but no such luck. We have the townsfolk who hate and distrust the newcomer based on his ancestor's activities. And it's clear that Gene Wilder was made up to look like Basil Rathbone, including the eye makeup and pencil mustache. Having now seen the original three Frankenstein movies in close succession, I continue to be amazed by Mel Brooks's cleverness at reproducing and parodying their elements.

But what of the film itself? It looks really good, intentionally aping James Whale's expressionistic sets in the Frankenstein…

The Karloff Frankenstein movies will forever be among my favourite horror films. There was built into these pictures the sense of wonder and Saturday matinee fun of that era, no matter how many decades later they are viewed.

Son of Frankenstein is the third of the series and the final appearance by the immortal Karloff. This film has a distinctly continental Europe flavour with its highly stylized odd-angled architecture and expressive use of light and shadow in the manner of even earlier German cinema.

The monster remains a sympathetic character, simply wanting a friend to make his lonely life more meaningful. Ygor, played with gusto and humour by Bela Lugosi, is that friend. The monster also wins over the young…

Son of Frankenstein the third Installment in the Universal Frankenstein series and it's a damn fine third film. This time we have Basil Rathbone in the role of Wolf Frankenstein, the son of Henry Frankenstein, Boris Karloff returns as the Monster (Although in a much smaller role), we have Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh, a guy with a wooden arm! And we have Bela Lugosi as Ygor, the man who survived a hanging. His best role behind Dracula in my eyes! Wolf goes to live in the old house of his father and meets Ygor who wants his help in reviving the Monster and with the Monster he wants to get revenge on…

One doesn't easily forget, Herr Baron, an arm torn out by the roots.-Inspector Krogh

I had never watched Son of Frankenstein because I figured it was just a cheap sequel and never looked into it further. This ended up being a huge surprise. It's not as ambitious as Bride of Frankenstein, but it's still a surprisingly excellent film that actually tells a great new story featuring Frankenstein's Monster and doesn't try to just copy the original or Bride.

The set designs, style and overall look of the movie continues the gothic surreal look of the last film. I would dare say that it might even pull off the sets even better, I know that's sacrilege but by no means…

Karloff's final performance as the Monster and Lugosi's first appearance in the Frankenstein series as Ygor. The film picks up a couple of decades from the last film as Dr. Frankenstein's son come back to his family castle only to discover the villagers don't trust him and the Monster is still alive and being looked after by the very creepy Ygor. So what does he do, pick up where his father left off in an attempt to resurrect his family name and get his father the credit he deserves. Lucky for us the Monster gets loose again, and kills at the behest of a vengeful Ygor.

This is one of the Universal series that feels a little more fleshed out…

By 1935, with the release of Bride of Frankenstein, it would have seemed fitting that Universal's Frankenstein series had come to the perfect closure but naturally, another film had to be released. From its very title, the film sounds like a shameless Universal cashgrab following the success of James Whales' Frankenstein films but surprisingly indeed, Son of Frankenstein is quite a fantastic follow up to Whales' films.

Basil Rathbone plays the son of Henry Frankenstein, Baron Wolf Frankenstein, ashamed yet interested in his father's work. Bela Lugosi, the legendary horror star, plays Ygor, an apparent assistant of Henry Frankenstein during which time he searched for spare body parts (who is never mentioned in the first two films) To put it…

I expected the series to rapidly go down hill after the second instalment, yet here we have 'Son of Frankenstein', brazenly carrying on regardless.

With a fantastic cast, especially Lugosi, Son of Frankenstein was a thoroughly enjoyable watch. Having never watched on past 'Bride of Frankenstein', due to my feeling that all franchises fade away slowly, I was taken a back.

With our titular doctor succumbing to the ever present curse, but in extremely art deco surroundings, it has a renewed gothic feel to it. I do feel that Karloff was a little more lethargic in his monster, but maybe this was because of the knee jerk reaction to the fairly emotive monster of it's predecessor.

Marking the last time that Karloff played the Monster (at least in movie form) Son Of Frankenstein is also arguably the final gasp of quality before the franchise began to deteriorate. The story follows the infamous scientist's son returning to reclaim his birthright, uncovering the secrets to creating life and helping to revive his father's creation in the process. Basil Rathbone gives a slightly over the top performance which, despite the inherent obsurdity, feels perfectly at ease with the events unfolding around him. The art direction owes much to the previous two Whale directed entries, and Lugosi is outstanding as the luridly insidious Ygor. Karloff isn't given much to do beyond calling upon his experince in the role, yet he…

Boris Karloff makes his final appearance as the Frankenstein Monster in this zippy little classic where Dr. Frankenstein's son (Basil Rathbone) sets out to clear his dead father's name as the creator of a murdering monster and restore his reputation as a brilliant scientist. So he finds The Monster and electric-shocks him back to health, intending for the beast to be studied for the cause of benign scientific advancement, but what the hell kind of movie would that make? Of course, Karloff goes crazy again and rampages the countryside. It's good stuff, but this also marks the point where the Universal monster movies become more episodic affairs, sliding into B-movies after this. Among the notable good performances come from Lionel…

I consider the first 3 Frankenstein films to be a trilogy, and this one ends it so well especially being the final time Boris Karloff would play "The Monster" and then you have an amazing performance by Bela Lugosi as Ygor, just fantastic! Really another classic in the Universal Monster films, and one everyone should see!

So I guess I'm on a Universal monsters kick, or a Frankenstein kick, or something. I found this to be the most plot heavy in the series so far, it has a much clearer point to point storyline than the previous films. As a result of that I think this doctor Frankenstein is the most fleshed out of the bunch. We meet Henry's son Wolf, coming to Germany from America, apparently having only briefly known his father before he died. He believes his father was a good man and that his experiment just went wrong. I was pretty surprised by the depth and drive Wolf is given right out of the gate. I'd argue that it's a hell of a…

The opening scene/setup is laughably effortless, basically amounting to "oh boy, the new guy in town's name is 'Frankenstein'? Not again!" After a slow start, things get good when Ygor finally pops up and shows our titular son daddy's little secret. From there, the plot is great, reveling in its own evil and darkness. It's the most sinister interpretation of Frankenstein's monster that I have seen (though my expertise is limited).

The direction is capable, but blase. The film never reaches those levels of unsettling wonder that Bride of Frankenstein brought. What shines here is, not surprisingly, the one-two punch of horror gods Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi playing the monster and Ygor, respectively. Lugosi plays Ygor with so many…

Son of Frankenstein the third Installment in the Universal Frankenstein series and it's a damn fine third film. This time we have Basil Rathbone in the role of Wolf Frankenstein, the son of Henry Frankenstein, Boris Karloff returns as the Monster (Although in a much smaller role), we have Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh, a guy with a wooden arm! And we have Bela Lugosi as Ygor, the man who survived a hanging. His best role behind Dracula in my eyes! Wolf goes to live in the old house of his father and meets Ygor who wants his help in reviving the Monster and with the Monster he wants to get revenge on…

I am a huge fan of the Frankenstein films, most especially the Hammer produced ones from the 50s and 60s, but I knew less about the classic series. I had seen the original and Bride, but thought I'd go back and see where Universal had taken it after that.

I enjoyed Son of Frankenstein mostly for is humor. There are a lot of one-liners and silly details that are obviously going for laughs (Makes sense then that this has the most influence on Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein). I also enjoyed the general premise of Frankenstein's son being seduced by the dark side of…